Date revealed for UK to complete complex PIP on six Type 45 destroyers

The Power Improvement Project (PIP), which is expected to enhance the resilience of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer by installing additional power generation sources in each ship, is scheduled to be completed by 2028.

UK’s Ministry of Defence revealed in 2018 that a £160 million contract was awarded to BAE Systems to update the power and propulsion system on Type 45 destroyers under the PIP. The contract has been awarded to BAE Systems, in collaboration with BMT Defence services and Cammell Laird.

The PIP contract covers the design and integration of the technical solution, supply of equipment and physical installation into all six Type 45 destroyers.

The agreement forms a part of Project Napier which was established in 2014 and builds on the work carried out in the first strand of the project, known as the Equipment Improvement Plan which addresses the reliability of existing equipment.

HMS Dauntless is the first of the class to undergo the PIP conversion. Currently, the work is being carried out at Cammell Laird’s shipyard in Birkenhead.

According to the ministry officials, the lessons learned from the first of class PIP conversion will be applied to subsequent ships. On current plans, the work is scheduled to be completed by 2028, with the PIP conversion finished on all six Type 45 destroyers.

“The lessons learned from the first of class PIP conversion will be applied to subsequent ships, whilst taking into account that the programme is balanced against the Royal Navy’s standing and future operational commitments. It is planned that all six Type 45 ships will have received the PIP conversion by 2028,” Baroness Goldie from the UK’s Ministry of Defence stated.

The next phase of the program will see HMS Dauntless undertake a rigorous harbor trials program, before returning to sea later this year for sea trials.

HMS Dauntless is the second ship of the Daring class. It was launched at Govan in January 2007 and delivered to the Royal Navy on 3 December 2009. The ship was formally commissioned on 3 June 2010.